The Gilded Balloon
Comedy
1-14, 16-27 Aug, 5:45pm-6:45pm 

If video killed the radio star, can theatre restore him to life?  Probably not, but the presenters of The Fitzrovia Radio Hour are giving it a bally good try.  In this imaginative pastiche of the wartime airwaves, we’re invited into the studios of a 1940’s radio station – to watch bow-tie-clad actors read a series of tales of derring-do, while their colleagues produce increasingly bizarre sound effects live on stage around them.

When we saw Fitzrovia at a previous Edinburgh Fringe, our reviewer Trystan Davies praised both its charm and its understated authenticity.  The humour’s gentle, preferring subtle lampooning to in-your-face punchlines, and the mockery’s always balanced with warmth and respect.  The whole thing’s quaint and quirky, but the real amusement lies in the actors’ buttoned-up restraint – not least the focused precision with which they generate the special effects, seemingly oblivious to how ludicrous it is that they’re conjuring the roaring Atlantic with a watering can.

Since our last review, Fitzrovia’s become something of an institution, both here in Edinburgh and beyond.  But if you caught last year’s show, you’ll be delighted to hear there are brand-new stories to enjoy – and we’re promised renewed feuding among the egocentric cast, with one of their number demanding an unplanned change to the finely-honed transmission schedule.  On past form, this won’t be the kind of comedy which makes your sides ache… but it should be an uplifting and sometimes-pointed satire.  London’s calling, and we’ll be tuning in.